On Monday, European Union officials were set to distribute a list of products they plan to take a hit with retaliatory tariffs.
Representatives from the bloc’s 27 member states are expected to vote for the tariff wave on Wednesday, and a solid coalition will be needed to stop them from becoming effective. They are expected to come into effect from April 15th.
The spare version of the list included a wide range of items, including whiskey, boats, clothing and soybeans. Authorities reviewed several weeks in hopes of minimizing the pain for European businesses and consumers.
The updated list has not yet been published, but details began appearing on Monday. One senior EU official proposed that bourbon could be excluded from the final version. The bloc’s trade commissioner also said the value of the goods on the list will be smaller than the original 26 billion euro total after being trimmed during conversations with member states.
The tariff wave will be the EU’s first concrete step in retaliation for a series of trade measures that Trump has announced in recent weeks. They will be particularly responsive to steel and aluminum tariffs that were established in mid-March.
More expectations are available. European Union officials have made clear they are also preparing to respond to Trump’s subsequent moves, including a 25% tariff on cars and a 20% loading tariff on EU goods announced last week.
However, authorities are moving slowly and intentionally, avoiding a series of retaliatory moves in the hopes that the US will give them time to come to the table to make a deal.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Trade Minister Maros Sevkovic announced on Monday that the BLOC is offering to drop tariffs on automobiles and industrial products to zero.
But despite their potential victory for the Trump administration, European officials also want to make it clear that they will not accept American actions without a decisive response.
“We are ready to sit at the negotiation table whenever our American partners are ready,” Sevkovic told Luxembourg on Monday. He said he has what he described as an honest two-hour meeting with his American counterpart last weekend.
“The EU remains open and we strongly prefer negotiations, but we will not wait endlessly,” Sefcovic added. “We are ready to use all of the tools of Trade Defense Arsenal.”
As tensions escalate, interests rise. The European Union is undoubtedly America’s most important trading partner. And the US is by far the largest export market for European goods.
European officials recognize that a full trade war on both sides of the Atlantic could be painful.
So they spent time compiling the first set of retaliation lists. Authorities wanted to take into account feedback from all over the continent.
Part of the list was originally intended to be put on hold on March 31st. Instead, it was even more refined after Trump threatened to respond to it by blaming 200% tariffs on all European alcohol.
Such a move has been crushed by French and Italian winemakers, and policymakers from those countries have expressed vigilance.
Whiskey is expected to be removed by many from the final list. Stéphane Séjourné, executive vice president of the European Commission, said in a radio interview Monday that it would not be on the list anymore and that he hoped “there should be good news.”
The whiskey and wine tariff episode highlighted the challenge of maintaining a solid united front in order to meet tariffs. Countries across the continent have different economic priorities and different appetites to return to the US.
Some Northern European countries have asserted that the European Union must be strong in its response – even suggesting trade barriers, especially in large American technology companies like Google.
However, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called out the idea that Italy must choose between the US and the Bullock “childish”. She also warns against harsh retaliation.
EU officials initially wanted to avoid trade disputes entirely.
They wanted to avoid hanging carrots last fall and earlier this year, like a crashing purchase of American liquid natural gas. But that strategy failed. Instead, Washington is taking on a much more aggressive tack than many analysts and officials expected. This led European policymakers to compete to respond.
Part of the current challenge is that the US has shown little appetite for fast trading.
American officials appear to see tariffs as “not a tactical step, but a corrective action,” Sevkovich said Monday.
It is also difficult for EU officials to tell exactly who is affecting trade policy and what exactly is the government’s ultimate goal.
Elon Musk, a tech entrepreneur and close adviser to Trump, said he spoke on Saturday during a video conference appearance with Italian far-right league parties in Florence. He hoped that Europe and the United States would “move into a zero tariff situation and effectively create a free trade zone.”
But White House trade adviser Peter Navarro on Monday urged the European Union to drop value-added taxes and restrictions on American meat produced by hormones and other chemicals.
“You steal everything from the American people how possible,” he said. “So you shouldn’t say it’s just a lowering tariff.”
